Kobe Bryant had the third-highest scoring game of his career dropping 58 points but the Los Angeles Lakers still came up short against the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday, losing 133-124 in triple overtime.

Bryant's tally comes behind only his magical 81-point night against the Toronto Raptors last January and a 62-point performance against the Dallas Mavericks last December.

The Bobcats replied with 20-point plus efforts from four players, led by 28 from Gerald Wallace and a career-high 27 from Matt Carroll.

Emeka Okafor helped out with 22 and a career high 25 rebounds, while Raymond Felton also had 22 points to go with 15 assists to give the Bobcats victory in the first triple-overtime game in franchise history.

Bryant shot 22-of-45 from the field and was 10-of-12 from the free throw line but missed on game-winning jump shots in the final seconds of regulation. He also committed a costly foul on Derek Anderson late in the third overtime.

Anderson hit all three of his foul shots allowing the Bobcats to open up a five-point cushion with just over a minute to play.

*With the injured Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal watching from the bench, the New Jersey Nets rolled to a 91-81 win over the Heat in Miami.

*LeBron James, who will celebrate his 22nd birthday on Saturday, poured in 32 points and Donyell Marshall added a season best 29 as the Cavaliers powered to a 109-99 win over Milwaukee.

*Darrell Armstrong's only point of the game was a big one, dropping a foul shot with less than a second to play to lift the Indiana Pacers to a 93-92 win over the Detroit Pistons.